Performance Matters - The Healthy, High-Performing Cultures Issue - 25

INCLUSION AT
D&I in practice at ESPN
WORK
by Victoria Rodgers
An organization's employee well-being
or diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I)
efforts may garner reactions such as
fear of alienation or saying the wrong
thing. Despite those mindsets DE&I
work matters deeply, with 78 percent of
employees saying it's important to work
for an organization that prioritizes DE&I.1
Being intentional about DE&I and caring
for employee well-being are critical to
someone's ability to thrive. Yet there
are misconceptions that these efforts
are separate initiatives; or, that it's
complex or time-consuming and will add
weight to everyday workloads. That's
why it's important to incorporate both
within ways of working. By providing
accessible, realistic, and tangible
ways to integrate well-being and DE&I,
leaders can elevate their real-time
decision making and daily routines with
increased empathy and listening.
1 Workforce Happiness Index, CNBC
and SurveyMonkey, 2021
As a high-performing organization, ESPN has ongoing goals
to cultivate a sense of belonging and nourish well-being
across their " always on " culture. They envisioned a
conversational approach that would equip leaders to deepen
their knowledge, create new habits, coach teams, and drive
accountability. TiER1 partnered with ESPN to design and
develop a leadership coaching series that repurposed their
existing well-being and D&I framework so that they could
successfully embed ideal practices into everyday ways of
working. These actions included:
* Leaders (and their teams) adopt behaviors that continue
to promote holistic health and inclusion with clear
connection to performance.
* Leaders model behaviors that encourage teams to
adopt new habits and routines in hybrid work
environments with diversity in mind.
* Leaders better navigate responding to and supporting
employees, including at the moment of need.
As you can see, these are not " separate " or " additions " to
everyday workloads, but integral to leadership practices.
Tips for getting started
Here are practices to consider for incorporating DE&I
and well-being into your organizational ways of working:
* Examine team dynamics to uncover exclusive and
unhealthy practices. From there, shift to celebrate
differences and change decision-making processes
(including adjustment to power dynamics).
* Open 1:1s or meetings with an emotional inventory
or check-in. Then explore ways to better support at
this moment. (Tip: use mood association such as
distracted, somewhat present, fully engaged.)
* Provide tangible examples of how leaders can
lead and show up during difficult conversations
by demonstrating curiosity, emotional intelligence,
empathy, and inclusive behaviors.
* Reflect and assess unconscious bias related to leaders'
daily interactions, decision making, and ability to
explore trepidation; then provide spaces to discuss.
* Address burnout by establishing better boundaries,
knowing the signs and symptoms of burnout to
observe, and revisiting any narratives that may
contribute to feelings of powerlessness.
When it comes to impacting others, how we work is just as important as the work we do. The ongoing practices of
acknowledging bias, mindful behavior, emotional intelligence, inclusive conversations, and willingness to examine team
dynamics can seamlessly be incorporated within our everyday interactions. It takes curiosity and empathy. Organizational
leaders already are applying these simple techniques to create new habits and ways of working for themselves and their
teams positively impacting culture, employee experience, and DE&I goals.
about the author
Victoria Rodgers is an IDEA Strategy Consultant & Coach for
CenteredSoul Consulting and serves as an Affiliate Contractor for TiER1.
Victoria focuses on the integration of IDEA (inclusivity, diversity, equity,
and accessibility) across the employee experience and ways of working-
communication, collaborative practices, leadership development, and
problem solving-to improve decision making and foster inclusive
environments. She believes brave conversations, coaching, and
development of more conscious leaders will change the world.
PERFORMANCE MATTERS / PG 25

https://www.surveymonkey.com/curiosity/cnbc-workforce-survey-april-2021/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoriarodgers/

Performance Matters - The Healthy, High-Performing Cultures Issue

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